As technology is advancing rapidly, digital marketing is constantly evolving. With this in mind, the marketing team at Net Affinity have put together 14 hotel marketing trends for 2014 to keep you up to date with developments in online hotel marketing.

The 14 online hotel marketing trends according to Net Affinity;

1. Continued Growth of Mobile: Mobile Hotel Bookings will continue to grow stronger throughout 2014, with a prediction that 50% of direct online bookings will be made via mobile devices by 2017. Source: Daily Travel News"

3. Not Provided Keywords: Currently 80% of google searches are recorded as 'not provided' keywords. By Q1 2014, it is predicted that Google will encrypt 100% of keyword searches- Say goodbye to organic keyword data

4. Customised ReMarketing: 96% of people who visit a website leave without converting. Remarketing allows you to target these people & bring them back. 2014 will see more customised remarketing audiences. Source: The Moz Blog

5. OTA'S v Direct Bookings: Travellers are hit with 20+ sites before they make a booking decision. For 2014, Meta-search, social media & a strong brand website will provide great opportunity in competing with OTA’s & gain more direct bookings

6. Meta Search: Today we are witnessing an explosion of meta search travel sites and features. For 2014, Meta search marketing should be included in hoteliers’ efforts to shift share away from the OTAs to their online direct channels.

7. Semantic Search: In 2014, Search will develop further with Semantic Search, which seeks to improve search accuracy by understanding searcher intent & the contextual meaning

8. Google Carousel for Hotels: The Carousel is currently live in Europe for location & events based searches, 2014 will bring the google carousel for hotel related searches (already live in the USA)"

9. The New Multi-Screen World: 2014 is the year of multi-screen marketing, with travellers moving across devices to complete bookings.

10. Social Media Marketing: 2014 will be the year to increase website traffic via social media. Search engines are favouring social media sites within search results more than ever before"

11. Growing Importance of Google Plus: Google Plus will be the social network for SEO growth during 2014 - evolving into google carousel, local searches and google now"

12. Deeper use of Analytics: Google Analytics Improvement’s released in recent months should see marketers getting deeper into analytics during 2014"

13. Website Site Speed: Site speed has always had some effect on search engine results however it’s rumoured that 2014 will see site speed having a more significant effect on your search engine rankings.

14. Geo-Targeting: Geo Targeting is set for huge growth throughout 2014. The hotel industry needs to see the potential with this targeted marketing method.

The cost to hotels for groups and meetings has been on the rise in the U.S. in recent years. According to a report from hotel benchmarking company Kalibri Labs, the cost, if left unchecked, likely will double by 2022.

New York Sen. Chuck Schumer has asked the FTC to investigate whether the airline industry is data mining consumer personal information in order to charge them airfares based on things like income and purchasing behaviors.

About Us

Trusted by 45'000+ hotel marketers around the globe, Hotelmarketing'com satisfies your professional appetite for intelligence: news and information that is changing hotel marketing today, curated from hundreds of sources, editorially distilled into a must-read briefing and delivered every business day straight to your inbox.